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770 sats \ 4 replies \ @028559d218 OP 2h \ parent \ on: The US's Hard Right Turn towards Authoritarianism: We Need more Freedom w/ BTC privacy
The 'threats' to America don't come from without (outside the country).
They come from within.
Americans have done and will do far more harm to the US than any foreigners.
I'm afraid that @Solomonsatoshi may be right. BTC has become a 'speculative commodity' for too many...
And the blockchain cannot survive without reasonably decentralized mining (1) and people who actually use Bitcoin (2).
I don't know why we don't have full-on, complete embrace of silent payments.
My understanding is that they are a huge improvement on privacy... which we need desperately. Still don't understand why the blocks are mostly empty... if it's a privacy thing then better education and privacy tools might help.
Don't know.
We need more Bolt 12 integration, plus wrapped invoices.
I would like to see much better Silent Payments support, as far as I know there are only 2 wallets that support it - basically Wasabi and Cake. Wasabi is desktop only... and Cake is multi-coin and so many Bitcoiners don't use it.
We need way, way more education
I was browsing Twitter and it was... all the usual takes.
Plus a lot of twitter-drama and criticism of the miners which is important.
However this issue wasn't really 'addressed'. If transactions are "too expensive" like the big blockers say... why pay 3.50$ for a cat postcard? Clearly they don't care.
And if they're too cheap/low on-chain usage... is that because of Lightning channels being opened? I doubt it.
So there are just that few actual Bitcoin transactions?
I mean... 'we need scaling' isn't so obvious. There's clearly a lot of room for transactional demand to grow.
On the other hand, most transactions shouldn't be on-chain... that's where lightning comes in for quick cheap transactions.
As a daily 'bitcoin user' I rarely touch on-chain, it's all Lightning.
We need more daily users and in my opinion, most of all more education.
"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.
The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to complacency; From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage."
Alexander Fraser Tytler
The problem is in the apex of the nation state- the government, that has been captured by private interests and no longer serves the common good...and the body of the western democratic nation state- the citizens who have grown complacent and apathetic and allowed this to continue.
This part I agree with. People have grown lazy. None of these issues are that complex...
The budget deficit the US has, living beyond its means, isn't rocket science but the citizens don't really want the spending sorted out.
Like I said social security, medicare, and defense are most US spending but the voters don't actually want that stuff cut.
I agree with you on the 'corporate interests and lobbyists' stuff. There's definitely too much of that. However I don't think it's a conspiracy. I want to look at it simply.
Having said that, keeping money long term in the fiat of an indebted nation to me just seems crazier and crazier. Doesn't matter which one it is, all of it is pretty much a bad idea.
Lowering import duties would worsen the chronic trade deficit. Investing in infrastructure and education would have results if the underlying economy had areas where it could viably compete internationally - but does it?
Lowering import duties would lower costs for consumers. And in the long term, help US companies to be more competitive. The "trade deficit" isn't actually a problem.
There is no way Mexico is going to 'buy more from the US' than the US 'buys from Mexico' the US is way wealthier so has more to buy...
The problem of the 'trade deficit' is actually a budget deficit... but that is not an economics problem. It is a political problem.
Most federal spending is in Medicare, Social Security, and Defense... but if you're a politician good luck cutting spending in those areas.
As far as infrastructure and education goes... there is a huge shortage of skilled tradespeople. Electricians, welders, master plumbers... there aren't enough in the US so that's what people do to get better jobs... and the government should help them. "The debt" doesn't matter at this point. Either the US gets more competitive... or it won't matter in the long run anyway.
The big threat the US faces isn't necessarily excessive borrowing (although that is an issue) it's lack of global competitiveness.
And the solution if there is one is investments in education, infrastructure, and new technologies.
If that doesn't get sorted out, the debt will never get repaid and the US is cooked regardless.
If it does get sorted out... (and the US becomes more competitive again) the debt is still significant but it will be OK eventually. People will still buy US debt even if it looks like a "bad idea".
A more competitive US and people will be eager to buy it for what it's worth.